National Music Festival gears up for Season IX

Submitted News

Friday

May 17, 2019 at 6:15 PM

The National Music Festival will return to Maryland’s Eastern Shore on June 2-15 with 32 concerts and more than 200 free open rehearsals in Chestertown.

New to the 2019 festival is a program for apprentice singers — 14 in all — who will be coached by professional concert and opera singers, culminating in a “Heavenly Voices” concert on June 10 at Hotchkiss Recital Hall at Washington College. It will be led by Celine Mogielnicki, soprano, and Adrian Rosas, bass-baritone. Both were last heard locally as soloists in Mozart’s Requiem during last year’s NMF.

Eight of this year’s events — including three symphony masterworks concerts, vocal recitals and pre-concert talks — will be at Washington College’s Gibson Center for the Arts. Other venues include The Mainstay in Rock Hall, local churches, Adkins Arboretum and Chestertown’s Fountain Park.

This year’s repertoire will include Rimsky-Korsakov’s evocative Scheherazade, Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” and Beethoven’s Mass in C featuring the Chester River Chorale and soloists and apprentices from the vocal program. Other highlights include H.K. Gruber’s “Frankenstein!!” Gershwin’s “Cuban Overture” and Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture.” View the full schedule at bit.ly/2HvrlWC.

For the second year, The NewBassoon Institute, June 1-8, will also be a part of the National Music Festival. Five leading American bassoon artists and teachers, members of the pioneering bassoon ensemble Dark in the Song, conduct a week-long workshop for up-and-coming young players on contemporary bassoon literature, performance and teaching techniques.

With programming geared toward all ages, there’s something to suit every musical taste, from a free instrument “petting zoo” where kids can try out different instruments to impromptu performances nestled in nature among the native fauna at Adkins Arboretum in nearby Caroline County.

A $250 festival pass guarantees admission and preferred seating to ticketed events, as well as special benefits including a souvenir Festival Guide and invitations to an exclusive pass-holders-only reception.

Pre-purchased passes and tickets will be held for pickup at the festival. Single-ticket prices for concerts range from $10 to $20. Student tickets are available for all concerts at $5 each.

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